Geographic space management

ABSTRACT

A system is provided that manages a geographic space including a route on which a moving object moves, including a subsystem operable to manage a map of the geographic space, and an update manager operable to change a boundary of an update block, which is a unit of an update contained in the map, according to an extent to which the update block is updated. Also provided is a method and computer program product.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a system for managing geographic space.

As the geographic space being handled by a driving system expands, theamount of information being transmitted and received increases, and thecorresponding requirements might exceed the processing power of a singleserver. Even if the geographic space is divided, and a plurality ofservers are used to process the spaces resulting from the division,automobiles move at high speeds among the plurality of dividedgeographic spaces, and therefore further communication between theservers is necessary, such that the processing capability may beexceeded even when a plurality of servers are used. Furthermore, whenthe geographic space is divided, the density of roads, the number ofmoving automobiles, and the like is different in each geographic spaceresulting from the division, and therefore there is a difference insystem resources and workloads among servers, such that an overallefficiency of the system may drop when a load is focused on a certainserver.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a system isprovided including a subsystem operable to manage a map of thegeographic space including a route on which a moving object moves, andan update manager operable to change a boundary of an update block,which is a unit of an update contained in the map, according to anextent to which the update block is updated. A method and computerprogram product are also provided.

The summary clause does not necessarily describe all necessary featuresof the embodiments of the present invention. The present invention mayalso be a sub-combination of the features described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a system and a map area corresponding to a geographic spacemanaged by the system, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary configuration of the system, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an operational flow of a system, according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a map area divided by a dividing section,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a case in which the load of one subsystem hasincreased, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows an example of region boundaries changed by the regionmanager, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a map area that is divided by the dividingsection, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a case in which the loads of two subsystemshave increased, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a boundary of a region changed by the regionmanager, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a map area divided by the dividing section,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows a first example of blocks managed respectively by twosubsystems, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary configuration of a system, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 shows an operational flow of a system, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 shows a second example of blocks managed respectively by twosubsystems, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 shows an example in which subsystems identify a plurality ofroutes as route candidates, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 16 shows an example in which subsystems manage the managementtarget regions in block units, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 17 shows a first example of a route moving back and forth betweentwo regions managed by two subsystems, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 18 shows a second example of a route that runs back and forthbetween two regions managed by two subsystems, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 shows an exemplary configuration of a system, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 shows an operational flow of a system, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 shows an example of a management target region in a case whereeach of a plurality of subsystems manages the individual eventinformation and adjacent event information, according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 22 shows a first example of the results of a plurality of managingsections searching for events from each intersection location, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 shows a second example of results obtained by the plurality ofmanaging sections searching for events from each intersection location,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 shows an example of a map corresponding to a geographic spacemanaged by a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 shows an example of data fluctuation in each region thataccompanies an update of a map used by a system, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 shows an example in which the system changes the managementtarget regions of a plurality of subsystems, according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 27 shows an exemplary configuration of a system, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 shows an operational flow of a system, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 shows an example of a map data update, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 30 shows an example in which the system changes the boundaries ofupdate blocks and the boundaries of regions according to a map dataupdate, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 31 shows an example in which the subsystems respectively manageregions that each includes a plurality of update blocks, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 32 shows an example in which the update manager changes theboundaries of adjacent regions, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 33 shows an exemplary hardware configuration of a computer thatfunctions as a system, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, example embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed. The example embodiments shall not limit the inventionaccording to the claims, and the combinations of the features describedin the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a system 100 and a map area corresponding to a geographicspace managed by the system 100, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. The system 100 manages a geographic space thatincludes routes on which a moving object 10 moves. The system 100 isoperable to divide the geographic space into a plurality of regions,manage these regions, and dynamically change the boundary of at leastone of the regions, which may improve the overall system efficiency. Themoving object 10 may be a moving object that moves on routes includingland routes, sea routes, and/or air routes, for example. The geographicspace may be land, sea, or air space that includes the routes on whichthe moving object travels.

FIG. 1 shows an automobile as an example of the moving object 10, whichmoves along roads as examples of land routes. FIG. 1 shows an example inwhich the system 100 performs management by using map areascorresponding to a geographical area including a road on which theautomobile is moving. The system 100 divides the map area into aplurality of regions and includes a plurality of subsystems 200 thatrespectively manage these regions. FIG. 1 shows an example in which themap area is divided into six regions from region A to region F, and sixsubsystems 200 respectively manage these six regions resulting from thedivision. In FIG. 1, region A to region F are shown as being separatedfrom the subsystems 200, but each subsystem 200 may include a map of thecorresponding region and these maps may be managed within the respectivesubsystems 200.

Each of the subsystems 200 may be implemented on a server, and portionsof the system 100 other than the subsystems may also be implemented onone or more servers. In other words, the system 100 may be implementedon a plurality of servers. These servers may exist at any point on anetwork including the Internet, a subscriber network, a cellularnetwork, or a desired combination of networks. The servers may bededicated servers, or may be shared servers that perform otheroperations.

The system 100 acquires the positions of a moving object 10 from themoving object 10, and the subsystem 200 managing the region thatincludes the acquired position of the moving object 10 within the maparea may manage the movement of this moving object 10. The system 100acquires information such as events that have occurred to the movingobject 10 and/or on the road outside, and the subsystem 200 managing theregion including the position where such an event has occurred maymanage the state of the event. Events may include information aboutaccidents, obstructions, or construction on the road, or informationabout the weather, temperature, buildings, shops, or parking lots nearthe road. In response to a setting or a request from the moving object10, the subsystem 200 may provide notification about the eventinformation to the moving object 10 that made the request.

For example, if the moving object 10 is moving on a route in ageographical area corresponding to region A, then the subsystem 200managing region A manages this moving object 10. The system 100 mayincrease or decrease the number of subsystems 200 according to thesurface area of the geographic space to be managed.

Since the map area is divided into a plurality of regions, despite themoving object 10 simply moving on a route, the region corresponding tothe position of the moving object 10 might change. FIG. 1 shows anexample in which the moving object 10 is driving on a road such that theposition of the moving object 10 moves from region A to region B. Inthis case, according to the movement of the moving object 10, the system100 may transfer the information concerning the moving object 10 fromthe subsystem 200 managing region A to the subsystem 200 managing regionB, and may also transfer the management of the moving object 10 to thesubsystem 200 managing region B.

In this way, a transfer of management among the plurality of subsystems200 occurs according to the movement of the moving object 10. Therefore,by transmitting and receiving information of moving objects 10 among thesubsystems 200, the amount of information to be transmitted and receivedincreases in response to an increase in the number of moving objects 10and the number of routes. Furthermore, since the density of movingobjects 10 and routes is not uniform among the regions, there are caseswhere the load may be overwhelming on a certain subsystem 200.Therefore, the system 100 of the present embodiment may dynamicallychange the boundary of at least one region to prevent a load imbalanceand/or a decrease in productivity of the plurality of subsystems 200.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary configuration of the system 100, according toan embodiment of the present invention. The system 100 may be operableto communicate with each of a plurality of moving objects 10 to send andreceive the information used to manage the moving objects 10. The system100 may be operable to acquire map data and/or information exchangedwith the moving objects 10, through the Internet, a subscriber network,a cellular network, or any desired combination of networks. The system100 includes an acquiring section (i.e., module) 110, an analyzingsection 120, a dividing section 130, a region manager 140, a receivingsection 150, a transmitting section 152, a gateway apparatus 160, amonitoring section 170, and a plurality of subsystems 200.

The acquiring section 110 may be operable to acquire map datacorresponding to the geographical areas where a moving object 10 ispositioned, from an external database 30, for example. In response tothe map being updated, the acquiring section 110 may acquire some or allof the updated map data. The acquiring section 110 may be operable toacquire the map data from the Internet, a subscriber network, a cellularnetwork, or any desired combination of networks. The system 100 may beoperable to store the map data in advance.

The acquiring section 110 may further acquire an event that has occurredwithin the geographic space to be managed by the system 100. In thiscase, the acquiring section 110 may acquire accident information,traffic information, weather information, time information, etc.

The analyzing section 120 may be operable to communicate with theacquiring section 110, and to analyze the map data to divide the maparea into the plurality of regions. The analyzing section 120 mayanalyze route information included in the map data. The analyzingsection 120 may analyze route information indicating the number ofroads, traffic lights, railroad crossings, or the like, the type ofroads, the number of lanes in each road, and the speed limit on eachroad, for example.

The dividing section 130 may be operable to communicate with theanalyzing section 120, and to divide the map area into a plurality ofregions. The dividing section 130 may divide the map area such that theloads of the subsystems 200 managing their respective regions aresubstantially uniform. The dividing section 130 may divide the map areasuch that the number of roads, traffic lights, railroad crossings, andthe like in a single region is no greater than a threshold amount.Furthermore, the dividing section 130 may divide the map area such thatthe length of a type of road, e.g. a highway or a road only forautomobiles, in a single region, is no greater than a threshold length.The dividing section 130 may divide the map area such that the length ofroads having a certain number of lanes or speed limit in a single regionis no greater than a threshold length.

The region manager 140 may be operable to store information concerningthe plurality of regions resulting from the division. The region manager140 may be operable to specify the subsystem 200 managing the regionthat includes the position of the moving object 10, according to theposition of the moving object 10. The region manager 140 may be operableto adjust the loads of the plurality of subsystems 200 by dynamicallychanging the boundary of at least one of the plurality of regions. Theregion manager 140 may adjust the loads of the subsystems 200 bychanging the boundary of a region managed by a subsystem 200 whose loadis relatively higher than the loads of the other subsystems 200. Theregion manager 140 may be realized by one or more servers. The regionmanager 140 includes a memory unit 142, a boundary managing section 144,and a determining section 146.

The memory unit 142 may be operable to communicate with the dividingsection 130 and store information concerning the plurality of regionsresulting from the division by the dividing section 130. The memory unit142 may store setting values or the like of the system 100. The memoryunit 142 may store intermediate data, calculation results, thresholdvalues, parameters, and the like that are generated by or used in theoperations of the system 100. In response to a request from anycomponent within the system 100, the memory unit 142 may supply the datastored therein to the component making the request. The memory unit 142may be a computer readable storage medium such as an electric storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, anelectromagnetic storage device, or a semiconductor storage device.

The boundary managing section 144 may be operable to communicate witheach of the subsystems 200 and change the boundary of the region beingmanaged by at least one of the subsystems 200. The boundary managingsection 144 may be operable to change the boundary of the regionaccording to information such as the moving objects 10, the routes, andevents occurring in each region managed by a subsystem 200 or accordingto information about the subsystems 200. The boundary managing section144 may provide instructions for changing the boundary of one or moresubsystems 200 adjacent to the boundary being changed. The boundarymanaging section 144 may communicate with the memory unit 142 and updatethe boundary information of the region(s) of which the boundary waschanged.

The determining section 146 may be operable to communicate with thememory unit 142 and determine the subsystem 200 that is to manage themoving object 10 from the position information of the moving object 10,based on the information of the plurality of regions. The determiningsection 146 may identify a position in the map area managed by thesystem 100 that corresponds to the position information of the movingobject 10, and determine the subsystem 200 that manages the regionincluding the identified position in the map area to be the subsystem200 for managing this moving object 10. The determining section 146 maystore the position information of this moving object 10 and/or thedetermined subsystem 200 in the memory unit 142, in association withthis moving object 10. The determining section 146 may store a historyof the position information of this moving object 10 and/or thedetermined subsystem 200 in the memory unit 142.

Each of the boundary managing section 144, and determining section 146,may be a circuit, a shared or dedicated computer readable medium storingcomputer readable program instructions executable by a shared ordedicated processor, etc.

The receiving section 150 may be operable to receive informationtransmitted from each of a plurality of moving objects 10. Each movingobject 10 may transmit information at designated time intervals, and thereceiving section 150 may sequentially receive this transmittedinformation. The receiving section 150 may receive position informationof the moving objects 10 and event information observed by the movingobjects 10. The receiving section 150 may be operable to receive, asposition information, observation information of a moving object 10 thatis observed by other moving objects 10. The position information may beinformation that represents longitude and latitude in an absolutecoordinate system, distance and direction from a reference point, etc.The position information may include height (altitude) information. Thereceiving section 150 may acquire the absolute position information orrelative position information of the moving object 10.

The receiving section 150 may receive an observation position observedby the moving object 10 using GPS. The receiving section 150 may receivethe observation information detected by the moving object 10 using ageomagnetic sensor, for example. The receiving section 150 maycommunicate with the plurality of moving objects 10 and receive theposition information of each moving object 10, via the Internet 40. Thereceiving section 150 may receive the position information of theplurality of moving objects 10 through wireless communication, asubscriber network, a cellular network, or any desired combination ofnetworks.

The transmitting section 152 may be operable to transmit eventinformation to each of the moving objects 10 according to settings, forexample. The transmitting section 152 may transmit informationconcerning the route on which the moving object 10 is expected totravel. The transmitting section 152 may communicate with the movingobjects 10 and transmit each type of information to the moving objects10 via the Internet 40. The transmitting section 152 may transmit eachtype of information to the moving objects 10 through wirelesscommunication, a subscriber network, a cellular network, or any desiredcombination of networks.

The gateway apparatus 160 may be operable to transfer communicationbetween the plurality of subsystems 200 and the plurality of movingobjects 10. The gateway apparatus 160 may communicate with the receivingsection 150 and receive the information transmitted by each movingobject 10. The gateway apparatus 160 may communicate with the regionmanager 140 and request from the region manager 140 the transferdestination for each piece of information received from the movingobjects 10. In response to this request, the gateway apparatus 160 mayreceive from the region manager 140 the information of the subsystem 200that is to manage the moving object 10 that transmitted the information.The gateway apparatus 160 may transfer the information received from themoving object 10 to the subsystem 200 that is to manage the movingobject 10. In other words, the gateway apparatus 160 may transfer theinformation received from each moving object 10 to the subsystem 200determined by the region manager 140.

The gateway apparatus 160 may communicate with each of the subsystems200 and receive the information transmitted by each subsystem 200. Thegateway apparatus 160 may communicate with the transmitting section 152and supply the transmitting section 152 with the information receivedfrom each subsystem 200, such that this information is transferred tothe moving objects 10 designated for each subsystem 200.

The gateway apparatus 160 may include a plurality of gateways, and mayquickly perform transfer between the plurality of subsystems 200 and theplurality of moving objects 10. In this case, the receiving section 150may function as a load balancer that supplies the information from themoving objects 10, such that the load is spread among the plurality ofgateways. The load balancer may sequentially supply information from themoving objects 10 to the gateways having lighter loads. The gatewayapparatus 160 may be a network that provides a connection between aplurality of networks using the same or different types of protocols.

The monitoring section 170 may be operable to monitor the loads of eachof the subsystems 200. The monitoring section 170 may communicate withthe plurality of subsystems 200 and monitor the amount of traffic, thenumber of moving objects 10, the number of events, the number of roads,and the like in the map area managed by the subsystems 200. Themonitoring section 170 may monitor the amount of data processed by eachsubsystem 200 and the amount of data transmitted and received by eachsubsystem 200. The monitoring section 170 may monitor the amount of heatgenerated by each subsystem 200 and the amount of memory used by eachsubsystem 200. The monitoring section 170 may communicate with theregion manager 140 and supply the monitoring results to the regionmanager 140.

Each of the acquiring section 110, analyzing section 120, dividingsection 130, gateway apparatus 160, receiving section 150, transmittingsection 152, and monitoring section 170, may be a circuit, a shared ordedicated computer readable medium storing computer readable programinstructions executable by a shared or dedicated processor, etc. Thecircuits, computer-readable mediums, and/or processors may beimplemented in shared or dedicated servers.

The subsystems 200 may each be operable to manage one of the regionsobtained by dividing the geographic space. Each subsystem 200 may managethe moving objects 10 positioned within the corresponding managementtarget region, from among the plurality of moving objects 10. Eachsubsystem 200 may set one of the regions resulting from the division asa management target region, and may manage the mapping of the movingobjects 10 that are management targets on a map of this managementtarget region. Each subsystem 200 may be operable to manage eventsoccurring within the corresponding management target region, and maymanage mapping of these events on the map of this management targetregion.

Each subsystem 200 may begin data processing relating to a moving object10 that is a new management target, in response to the region manager140 changing the boundary of the management target region. In this case,in response to the change of the boundary, the subsystem 200 for which anew management target, e.g. a map, a moving object 10, an event, etc.,has been generated may receive the information concerning thismanagement target from the subsystem 200 that was managing thismanagement target prior to the boundary change. Each subsystem 200 maystop managing the information of a management target in response toreceiving information indicating the exclusion of the management target,or in response to supplying information indicating the addition of themanagement target to another subsystem 200, which may be due to theregion manager 140 changing the boundary of the management targetregion. Each subsystem 200 includes a managing section 210 and anidentifying section 220.

The managing section 210 provided in one subsystem 200 may manage theroute information of the region managed by this subsystem 200, i.e.individual route information. The identifying section 220 provided inone subsystem 200 may identify the routes within the individual routeinformation on which a moving object 10 is positioned, based on theposition information received from the moving objects 10 in the regionmanaged by this subsystem 200. In other words, the managing section 210and the identifying section 220 may map the management target movingobjects 10 on a map of the management target region, based on theposition information received from the moving objects 10. The subsystem200 may include a function known as LDM (Local Dynamic Map), by usingthe managing section 210 and the identifying section 220. Each of themanaging section 210, and identifying section 220, may be a circuit, ashared or dedicated computer readable medium storing computer readableprogram instructions executable by a shared or dedicated processor, etc.

The system 100 of the present embodiment described above may manage amap area containing regions obtained by dividing a geographic space fora plurality of subsystems 200, along with moving objects 10 and eventspositioned within this map area. The region manager 140 dynamicallychanges the loads of the subsystems 200 by changing the boundary of atleast one of the regions according to at least one of the dataprocessing loads relating to the moving objects 10 and the number ofmoving objects 10 positioned in each of the regions, for example. Inthis way, the system 100 can prevent the loads placed on the serversamong the subsystems 200 from exceeding the processing capacities of theservers. Furthermore, the system 100 can prevent a decrease inefficiency of the overall system due to a certain server among thesubsystems 200 having an overwhelming load.

FIG. 3 shows an operational flow of a system, according to an embodimentof the present invention. The present embodiment describes an example inwhich the system performs operations from S310 to S370 shown in FIG. 3to dynamically adjust the loads of the plurality of subsystems 200. FIG.3 shows one example of the operational flow of the system 100 shown inFIG. 1, but the system 100 shown in FIG. 1 is not limited to using thisoperational flow, and the operational flow of FIG. 3 may be performed byother systems.

First, an acquiring section, such as the acquiring section 110, mayacquire the map data of the geographic space to be managed by the system(S310). The acquiring section may acquire map data of a geographic spacethat includes one or more cities, one or more towns, and the like. Theacquiring section may include map data of a geographic space includingone or more states, countries, continents, etc.

Next, an analyzing section, such as the analyzing section 120, analyzesthe acquired map area, and a dividing section, such as the dividingsection 130, may divide the area of the map data (map area) according tothis analysis (S320). The analyzing section may count the number ofroads, the number of events, and the like in the map area. The analyzingsection may analyze the map area by calculating the number of roads andthe number of events per unit surface area. The dividing section maydivide the map area into a plurality of regions according to theprocessing capability of a single subsystem. The dividing section maydivide the map area into a number of regions that is less than thenumber of subsystems. The dividing section may store the informationconcerning the regions resulting from the division in a memory unit,such as the memory unit 142.

Next, a receiving section, such as the receiving section 150, mayreceive the information transmitted from each of a plurality of movingobjects, such as moving object 10 (S330). The receiving section mayreceive the position information of each moving object. The receivingsection may receive information concerning events observed by each ofthe moving objects, in addition to the position information. Thereceiving section may supply a gateway apparatus, such as the gatewayapparatus 160, with the pieces of received information. The gatewayapparatus may request the transfer destination of each piece of receivedinformation from the region manager.

Next, in response to the request from the gateway apparatus, the regionmanager may determine the regions in which the moving objects arepositioned, based on the position information received from each of themoving objects, and may determine the subsystem for managing the maps ofthese regions from among a plurality of subsystems, such as theplurality of subsystems 200 (S340). Specifically, the region manager maydetermine each region in the map area in which a moving object ispositioned, according to the position information of each moving object.The region manager may determine the subsystem to manage each determinedregion for each piece of position information, and provide notificationto the gateway apparatus.

The gateway apparatus may transfer each piece of received information,with the subsystem corresponding to the position information asdetermined by the region manager serving as the transfer destination.The subsystems may each perform mapping of the received information on amap of the corresponding management target region. Specifically, eachsubsystem may map the management target moving objects that thissubsystem manages, sequentially update the mapping according to positioninformation sequentially transmitted from these moving objects, andmanage the movement of these moving objects on the map.

Each subsystem may perform a search of a route from the position of amoving object on the map to a position where this moving object willarrive in the future. Each subsystem may search for a route to which themoving object is capable of moving in a threshold time, or may insteadsearch for a route to a position on the map designated by the movingobject or a recognized position, such as a landmark.

Each subsystem may map management target events on the map managed bythis subsystem, and may transmit information concerning these events tothe moving objects, according to settings or the like. In this way, thesubsystems can notify a moving object of information concerning eventsoccurring at positions near the position of the moving object. Thesubsystems can notify each moving object about information concerningthe route relating to the movement direction of the moving object. Thesubsystems may provide an application that operates independently fromthe system with the position information, event information, routeinformation, and the like of each moving object.

A monitoring section, such as the monitoring section 170, may monitoreach of the subsystems and supply the region manager with the monitoringresults. The region manager may determine whether or not the load placedon each subsystem is large (or small) (S350). Here, the region managermay determine whether the load placed on each subsystem is small. Theregion manager may determine whether or not the load of one subsystem isrelatively large (or relatively small) compared to the other subsystems.

The region manager may determine whether or not the load of eachsubsystem is greater than (or less than) a threshold load. The regionmanager may determine whether or not the load placed on each subsystemis larger than a threshold load, in order of load size, beginning withthe subsystem having the largest load. The region manager may determinewhether or not the load placed on each subsystem is smaller than athreshold load, in order of load size, beginning with the subsystemhaving the smallest load.

The region manager may determine whether or not the load of onesubsystem is both larger than the load of another subsystem and largerthan a threshold load. The region manager may determine whether or notthe load of one subsystem is both smaller than the load of anothersubsystem, and smaller than a threshold load. The region manager maydetermine whether to change the boundary of a region managed by asubsystem, according to the determination of the size of the load ofthis subsystem.

The region manager determines, for each region, whether to change theboundary of the region according to the number of moving objects in theregion, the data processing load relating to the moving objects, thedata processing load on the subsystem, the data processing load on theserver, etc. The region manager may determine, for each region, whetherto change the boundary of the region according to the number of eventsoccurring in the region, the data processing load relating to theseevents, the data processing load on the subsystem, the data processingload on the server, etc.

The plurality of subsystems may calculate the complexity of the routenetwork in each of the regions, and, according to the complexity, theregion manager may determine whether to change the boundary of thecorresponding region. In this case, if a plurality of subsystems haveperformed the route search, then the plurality of subsystems maycalculate the complexity of the route network based on a history of theprocessing loads of the route searches performed in each of the regions.The region manager may determine, for each region, whether to change theboundary of the region according to the amount of traffic of the movingobjects in the region. In this case, for each region, the region managermay determine whether to change the boundary of the region according tothe amount of traffic of the moving objects moving between this regionand the adjacent regions.

If the load of one or more of the subsystems is determined to be largeor small (S350: Yes), then the region manager may change the boundary ofthe region managed by the subsystem having a load determined to be largeor small (S360). The region manager may change the boundary of at leastone region to decrease (or increase) the number of moving objectspositioned within a partial region next to the boundary, the dataprocessing load relating to those moving objects, etc. For example, theregion manager balances the loads by changing the boundary of a regionwith a large load and transferring management of a portion of thisregion that has a large number of moving objects and/or a large dataprocessing load relating to these moving objects to an adjacent region.

The region manager may change the boundary of at least one region todecrease (or increase) the number of events occurring within a range inthe region, the data processing load relating to these events, etc. Forexample, the region manager balances the loads by changing the boundaryof a region with a large load, and transferring management of a portionof this region that has a large number of events and/or a large dataprocessing load relating to these events to an adjacent region.

The region manager may change the boundary of at least one region todecrease (or increase) the complexity of the route network within theregion. For example, the region manager balances the loads by changingthe boundary of a region with a large load, and transferring managementof a portion of this region that has a highly complex route network toan adjacent region.

If a boundary of a region is positioned in the midst of a route portionwhere the traffic amount exceeds a predetermined reference trafficamount, then the region manager may change the boundary of the regionsuch that the entire route portion is included in one of the adjacentregions. For example, the region manager balances the loads by changingthe boundary of a region with a large load, and transferring managementsuch that the entire route portion of this region that includes theroute portion where the traffic amount exceeds the reference trafficamount is included in an adjacent region.

The region manager may change the boundary of a region such that theamount of traffic passing across the boundary of the region decreases.For example, the region manager may exclude or disqualify any boundarychange candidate that is expected to cause the amount of traffic ofmoving objects crossing the boundary to increase relative to the amountof traffic crossing the boundary before the boundary of the region ischanged. For example, the region manager may exclude or disqualify aboundary change candidate where the boundary would cross through a townfrom the boundary change candidates.

The region manager may change the boundary to a position expected tocause the traffic amount after the change to be less than the trafficamount of the moving objects crossing the boundary before the boundaryof the region is changed. For example, the region manager may change theboundary such that the number of routes crossing the boundary is smallerthan before the change, or may change the boundary such that smallerroutes and routes with fewer curves cross the boundary than before thechange.

In the manner described above, for each of the plurality of subsystems,the region manager may determine the magnitude of the load and adjustthe balance of the loads. If it is determined that none of the loads ofthe subsystems are large or small (S350: No), then the region managerneed not change the boundary of a region. In other words, the regionmanager may allow the subsystems to continue management with loadswithin a suitable range.

Next, the system may determine whether instructions have been receivedto suspend or stop operation (S370). If the program has ended,instructions have been received from the user of the system, or anemergency stop has occurred, for example (S370: Yes), then the systemmay end the operation.

If instructions for suspending or stopping the operation have not beenreceived, then the system may return to the operation of S330 forreceiving information from the moving objects and continue managing thesubsystems. Until receiving instructions to suspend or stop theoperation, the system may repeatedly perform the operations from S330 toS370 to continue the management of the subsystems while adjusting theloads of the subsystems.

In the manner described above, the system according to the presentembodiment dynamically changes the boundaries of the regions managed bythe subsystems, according to, for example, the load of each of thesubsystems, and can therefor handle dynamic changes in events and thenumber of moving objects. For example, in response to the load of onesubsystem becoming large, the system changes the boundary of the regionmanaged by this subsystem in a manner that decreases the surface area ofthis region, and can therefore dynamically adjust the balance of theloads among the subsystems. Furthermore, in response to the load of onesubsystem becoming small, the region manager may change the boundary ofthe region managed by this subsystem to increase the surface area ofthis region, and can therefore adjust the balance of the loads among thesubsystems.

In this way, the system can manage the geographic space withoutexceeding the processing capabilities of the subsystems, and can preventa decrease in efficiency of the overall system caused by an overwhelmingload on a certain subsystem. Furthermore, the system changes theboundary of at least one region such that the amount of traffic crossingthe border of this region managed by a subsystem decreases, and cantherefore decrease the number of times that data is exchanged among thesubsystems, thereby also decreasing the amount of data that isexchanged. In other words, even if the geographic space is increased,the system prevents an overwhelming load on a certain subsystem, andefficiently processes data with the plurality of subsystems operating ina loosely coupled manner, and can therefore handle a large geographicspace encompassing one or more states, countries, continents, etc.

A first example in which the system balances the loads of two subsystemsis described below using FIGS. 4 to 6. FIG. 4 shows an example of a maparea divided by a dividing section, such as the dividing section 130,according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows anexample of the result of an operation of dividing a map area, such asS320 of FIG. 3. FIG. 4 shows an example in which the map area is dividedinto region A and region B. A first subsystem manages region A, and asecond subsystem manages region B.

The first subsystem may manage the routes in region A, the eventsoccurring in region A, and the moving objects moving on the routes inregion A. The first subsystem may receive information of a moving objectthat has moved from region B to region A, from the second subsystem, andbegin management of the moving object. The first subsystem may supplythe second subsystem with information of a moving object that has movedfrom region A to region B, and transfer the management of the movingobject. Region A includes a town T1 and a town T2, and region B includesa town T3, a town T4, and a town T5.

FIG. 5 shows an example of an increased load of one subsystem, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. City development hasprogressed in region A, and a town T6 has been formed. In this way,since a new town T6 has formed, the routes in region A and the number ofmoving objects moving in region A have increased. In such a case, theload of the first subsystem managing region A increases relative to theload of the second subsystem. If this happens, then the processing loadon the first subsystem increases, and causes the load to exceed theprocessing capability of the first subsystem.

The system of the present embodiment may change the boundary of region Aaccording to the load of the first subsystem. Specifically, a regionmanager, such as the region manager 140, may change the boundaries ofregion A and region B according to the monitoring results of the loadsof the first and second subsystems from a monitoring section, such asthe monitoring section 170. In this case, the region manager mayinstruct the first subsystem to change the boundary such that thepartial region including the town T6 in region A is removed from regionA, and may instruct the second subsystem to change the boundary suchthat the partial region including the town T6 in region A is added toregion B.

According to the instructions from the region manager, the firstsubsystem may supply the second subsystem with information of theportion of region A including the town T6, and stop management of thisregion portion. According to the instructions from the region manager,the second subsystem may receive the information of the portion ofregion A including the town T6 from the first subsystem, and beginmanagement of this portion. FIG. 6 shows an example of region boundarieschanged by the region manager, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. In this way, the system according to the present embodimentcan prevent processing from overwhelming the first subsystem, and canprevent the load from exceeding the processing capability of the firstsubsystem.

A second example in which the system adjusts the balance of loadsbetween two subsystems is described below using FIGS. 7 to 9. FIG. 7shows an example of a map area that is divided by a dividing section,such as the dividing section 130, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 7 shows an example of a result of an operationof dividing a map area, such as S320 of FIG. 3. FIG. 7 shows an examplein which the map area is divided into region A and region B. A firstsubsystem manages region A, and a second subsystem manages region B.

The first subsystem may manage the routes in region A, the eventsoccurring in region A, and the moving objects moving on the routes inregion A. The first subsystem may receive information of a moving objectthat has moved from region B to region A, from the second subsystem, andbegin management of the moving object. The first subsystem may supplythe second subsystem with information of a moving object that has movedfrom region A to region B, and transfer the management of the movingobject.

Region A includes a town T1 and a town T2, and region B includes a townT3 and a town T4. The traffic amount, which is the amount of movingobjects, between the town T1 and the town T2 is greater than the trafficamount between the town T3 and the town T4. Furthermore, the trafficamount between the town T2 and the town T3 is approximately equal to thetraffic amount of between the town T3 and the town T4.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a case in which the loads of two subsystemsare increased, according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.8 shows an example in which road development between the town T2 and thetown T3 has progressed, and the traffic amount between the town T2 andthe town T3 has increased relative to the traffic amount between thetown T3 and the town T4.

In this embodiment, the traffic amount between region A and region B hasincreased, and therefore the amount of data exchanged between the firstsubsystem and the second subsystem has increased. The improvement of theroad infrastructure and development of each town may have caused theprocessing to be increased on the first subsystem and/or the secondsubsystem, or cause the loads of the first subsystem and/or the secondsubsystem to exceed their processing capabilities.

If a boundary is positioned in a region in the midst of a route portionwhere the traffic amount exceeds a predetermined reference trafficamount in this manner, then the system may change the boundary of thisregion to include the entirety of this route portion in one of theadjacent regions. In this embodiment, a region manager, such as theregion manager 140, may change the boundaries of region A and region Bin response to the monitoring results of a monitoring section, such asthe monitoring section 170, indicating that the traffic amount betweenthe town T2 and the town T3 has exceeded the reference traffic amount.In this embodiment, the region manager may instruct the first subsystemto change the boundary such that the entire route between the town T2and the town T3 is included as a new management target in region A, andmay instruct the second subsystem to change the boundary such that theentire route between the town T2 and the town T3 is no longer includedas a management target.

The ranges around the town T2 and the town T3 often include complexroutes, and therefore the region manager may change the boundaries ofthe regions in a manner to avoid these ranges, or to minimize changesoutside of the route between the town T2 and the town T3. The regionmanager may set the town T2, the town T3, and the route connecting thetown T2 and the town T3 as management targets of the first subsystem (orthe second subsystem).

In response to the instructions from the region manager, the secondsubsystem may supply the first subsystem with the information of theportion of region B including the town T3 and the route connecting thetown T2 and the town T3, and may stop management of this region portion.In response to the instructions from the region manager, the firstsubsystem may receive from the second subsystem the information of thisportion of region B, and may begin managing this region portion. Inother embodiments, the second subsystem may continue to manage atransferred region portion until the first subsystem begins to managethe transferred region portion. This ensures that no portion isunmanaged at any time. FIG. 9 shows an example of a boundary of a regionchanged by a region manager, such as the region manager 140, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. In this way, the system mayprevent an increase in the amount of information exchanged among theplurality of subsystems.

The system may change the management target regions managed respectivelyby the subsystems, according to the respective loads of the subsystems.The system 100 may also divide or combine the management target regionsaccording to the respective loads of the subsystems.

For example, if the load of a first subsystem is high, and the load of asecond subsystem of an adjacent region to the region of the firstsubsystem cannot handle any more load, the region manager may divide thefirst subsystem into two. In this case, the region manager may cause thefirst subsystem to manage one of the regions resulting from thedivision, and transfer the management of the other region resulting fromthe division to a subsystem having no region allocated thereto.

If the loads of two subsystems of adjacent regions are low, andcombining the management target regions of these two subsystems wouldresult in a load that could be managed by a single subsystem, then theregion manager may combine these two management target regions into one.In this case, the region manager may cause one of the two subsystems tomanage the one management target region resulting from the combination,and may remove the region allocation from the other subsystem. In thisway, the system may adjust the loads of the subsystems by dividing orcombining the management target regions.

In the system, a dividing section, such as the dividing section 130, maydivide the map area into a plurality of regions. The dividing sectionmay divide the map area into a plurality of regions with designatedshapes. The dividing section may divide the map area into regions withsquare or hexagonal shapes, for example, or into regions with acombination of a plurality of types of shapes. In embodiments where thedividing section divides the map area into regions with square orhexagonal shapes, for example, the boundaries of the regions may form agrid pattern or a honeycomb pattern.

If the map area is divided into shapes in this manner, then the systemmay further include a plurality of redundant regions with shapes that donot substantially match the shape of the regions resulting from thedivision. In this case, the dividing section may perform division whileshifting the center or weighted center of each region relative to thecenter or weighted center of each redundant region, such that theregions and the redundant regions do not completely overlap. Forexample, if the map area is divided into a plurality of regions having aplurality of square shapes, then the dividing section may provideredundant regions that resemble these square shapes. The dividingsection may provide the centers of these square redundant regions atpositions matching the vertices of the square regions. The subsystemsmay respectively manage these redundant regions.

In this way, if a moving object moves near the vertex of a region ormoves in a serpentine route near a vertex, even though the moving objectmoves between regions, the moving object is moving at a position nearthe center of the redundant region including this vertex. Accordingly,even though a moving object moves in a manner that would causeinformation to be exchanged a plurality of times between a plurality ofsubsystems, the system can decrease the number of information exchangesby using a subsystem to manage the redundant region.

The system dynamically changes the boundary of a region managed by asubsystem, according to the load of the subsystem. In the abovedescription, as a result of changing the boundary, due to an increase ofthe management target region, the subsystem receives information of thisincreased region from the subsystem that has previously managed thisregion. In addition, each of the subsystems may manage at least aportion of the data processing relating to a moving object positionedwithin a range from the boundary with an adjacent management targetregion, in parallel with the subsystem that manages this adjacentregion.

In this way, each subsystem manages a region that has been expanded inadvance, and therefore if the boundary of a region is dynamicallychanged, then management of the transferred region portion can beginimmediately without immediately exchanging information with anothersubsystem. Furthermore, after a boundary is changed and management ofthe transferred region portion has begun, the subsystem may receiveinformation of the transferred region portion from another subsystem. Inthis way, the system can spread out the exchange of information amongthe subsystems over time, thereby preventing temporary increases in theprocessing of a subsystem.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a map area divided by a dividing section,such as the dividing section 130, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 10 shows an example in which the dividingsection divides the map area into region 1 to region 9. In the exampledescribed below, each of the subsystems is operable to divide a regioninto block units. FIG. 10 shows an example in which each of thesubsystems respectively managing region 1 to region 9 has divided theregion into 64 blocks in an 8×8 configuration, and manages each block.

At least one of the subsystems may be operable to manage adjacent routeinformation for routes within each of the blocks included within apartial range in an adjacent region. For example, the subsystem 200managing region 1 may expand its management region to include each blockwithin a range in a region adjacent to region 1. FIG. 10 shows anexample in which the subsystem that manages region 1 has expanded itsmanaged region to include the region portion shown by the square shapeformed by the dotted lines in the drawing. In other words, thissubsystem may manage the management target region together with anadjacent management target region that includes block 211 to block 281in the adjacent region 2. In the same manner, this subsystem may manageblock 381 in region 3, block 481 to block 488 in region 4, block 588 inregion 5, block 618 to block 688 in region 6, block 718 in region 7,block 811 to block 818 in region 8, and block 911 in region 9 as theadjacent management target region.

In this way, each subsystem divides the management target region intoblocks for management, and each subsystem may manage a region expandedto include predetermined block units of a portion of the adjacentregions.

FIG. 11 shows a first example of blocks managed respectively by twosubsystems, according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11shows adjacent blocks B1 and B2 as an example of blocks managedrespectively by two subsystems. Block B1 is a management target regionof a first subsystem, e.g. within region 1, and block B2 is a managementtarget region of a second subsystem, e.g. within region 2, and is anadjacent management target region of the first subsystem.

Block B1 includes route S1 and route S2 on which moving objects move,and block B2 includes route S3 and route S4. The subsystems manage suchroute information, information concerning the moving objects moving onthese routes, information concerning events occurring on these routes,and the like. In block B2, which is the adjacent region, the movingobject moving on the route near block B1 is possibly moving to themanagement target region of the first subsystem. For example, inresponse to route S3 turning toward block B1, the moving objectpositioned at position P3 on route S3 moves toward the management targetregion of the first subsystem.

Since the subsystems map the moving objects in the map area, theobservation positions of the moving objects include observation errors,and therefore there are cases where an observation position within acertain block should instead be mapped to a route of a block adjacent tothis certain block. For example, in response to the moving object movingat position P3 on route S3 transmitting the observation position asbeing position P1 in block B1, the region manager 140 may determine thatthe first subsystem managing block B1 is the subsystem to performmanagement.

If the first subsystem is not managing an adjacent region as an adjacentmanagement target region, then the first subsystem may search for theposition of the moving object within the block B1, which is themanagement target region, and map this position. In this case, there isa problem that the first subsystem maps the moving object at position P2on route S1, which is closest to position P1, for example. If the movingobject moving on route S3 transmits the following observation positionas being position P4 in block B1, then there is a problem in that eventhough searching for the position of the moving object within block B1,the position is mapped on route S1 at a distance farther than thedistance between position P1 and position P2.

However, the first subsystem includes the adjacent block B2 as theadjacent management target region, and therefore may search for theposition of the moving object within block B1 and block B2, and map thisposition. In other words, the first subsystem can map the moving objectat position P3 on route S3, which is the closest to position P1.

There are cases where the route information of a position distanced fromthe border of an adjacent block is almost entirely unused in themanagement by the subsystems. For example, route S4 in block B2 isdistanced from the border, and there is route S3 closer to the border,and therefore any observation positions in block B1 cannot be closer toS4 than S3 in block B2.

Accordingly, the route information of a position distanced from themanagement target region may be omitted from the adjacent managementtarget region. The subsystem may set the adjacent route information tobe data that is expected to be used in searching for the position of amoving object with map matching in the adjacent management targetinformation. The subsystem includes route S3, which can be selected as aposition that is the shortest distance from at least one point on theboundary line between block B1 and block B2, in the route information.Furthermore, all of the points on route S3 are closer to the boundaryline between block B1 and block B2 in comparison to route S4, andtherefore the subsystem may exclude route S4, which cannot be selectedas a position at the shortest distance from all points on this boundaryline, from the route information.

The system may increase the map matching accuracy using the adjacentmanagement target region, and may efficiently perform map matching usingadjacent search data, as described using FIG. 12. FIG. 12 shows anexemplary configuration of a system 100, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. The gateway apparatus 160 of the system 100 inthis embodiment includes a judging section 162, and all components otherthan the judging section 162 may have substantially the same structureand function as the components in the system 100 in FIG. 2. Thedescription of the system 100 in this embodiment omits the descriptionsof all components other than the judging section 162, but the operationof the system 100 is not limited to the operation of the system 100 inFIG. 2.

In the system 100 of this embodiment, the managing section 210 and theidentifying section 220 of at least one subsystem 200 among theplurality of subsystems 200 may operate in the following manner. Themanaging section 210 may manage the individual route information forroutes within the management target region of the at least one subsystem200 from among the plurality of regions, and may manage adjacent routeinformation for routes in regions adjacent to the management targetregion. In other words, in addition to the individual route information,the managing section 210 may manage adjacent route information for alladjacent regions.

The managing section 210 may be operable to manage the individual routeinformation and the adjacent route information for routes positionedwithin a predetermined partial range from the boundary of the managementtarget region among the routes in the region adjacent to the managementtarget region. Since the managing section 210 manages the managementtarget region in block units, the managing section 210 may manageinformation concerning the routes within a plurality of blockspositioned within a range extending from the boundary of the managementtarget region, from among the blocks within the adjacent region.

The managing section 210 may be operable to manage, as the adjacentroute information, information concerning a portion of routes that areselected as having a shorter distance to a geographic point on theboundary of the target region, from among the plurality of routespositioned within a predetermined partial range in the adjacent region.For example, since the managing section 210 manages routes in aplurality of blocks adjacent to the management target region, themanaging section 210 may manage information concerning the routes thatcan be selected as a route that is the shortest distance from at leastone point on the boundary of the management target region, from amongthe routes in the blocks.

The managing section 210 may be operable to manage, as the adjacentroute information, information concerning routes that excludes theroutes that cannot have a lesser distance to a point on the boundary ofthe management region than any other route, among the plurality ofroutes positioned within a range in the adjacent region. For example, ifthe managing section 210 manages the routes in a plurality of blocksadjacent to the boundary of the management target region, then themanaging section 210 may exclude information concerning routes thatcannot be selected as a position that is the shortest distance from allpoints on the boundary of the management target region among the routesin the block, from the adjacent route information.

The managing section 210 may be operable to manage the adjacent routeinformation obtained by selecting a route, from among the plurality ofroutes positioned in a predetermined partial range in the adjacentregion, having a distance to a point on the boundary of the managementtarget region is not greater than the distance of any route in themanagement target region. In this case, the managing section 210 mayexclude, from the adjacent route information, any route from among theplurality of routes positioned in the predetermined partial range in theadjacent region having a distance to a point on the boundary of themanagement target region greater than any route within the managementtarget region.

The identifying section 220 may be operable to identify a route on whicha moving object 10 is positioned based on the observation position,using the individual route information and the adjacent routeinformation managed by the managing section 210 of at least onesubsystem 200. The identifying section 220 may perform map matching bysearching for a position on a route corresponding to the observationposition received from the moving object 10, from among the plurality ofroutes included in the individual route information and the adjacentroute information.

In this way, even if the position information supplied from a movingobject 10 is in a region outside of the management target region, aslong as there is position information of a region managed as theadjacent route information, the subsystem 200 that manages the adjacentroute information may manage the management target region in the samemanner. As a result, even when there is an error in the positioninformation supplied from the moving object 10 and the actual positionof the moving object 10 is in a region outside of the management targetregion, the subsystem 200 managing the management target region canperform map matching using the adjacent route information, withouttransferring the management to the subsystem managing the adjacentregion.

The gateway apparatus 160 according to the present invention may includea judging section 162. The judging section 162 may be operable todetermine the route taken by a moving object 10 that is moving near theboundary of a region, based on the results of the map matching performedby the subsystem 200.

FIG. 13 shows an operational flow of a system, according to anembodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment describes anexample in which a system, such as the system 100 of FIG. 12, performsthe operations from S310 to S370, which are substantially similar to theoperations shown in FIG. 3, to increase the accuracy of the map matchingwhile dynamically adjusting the balance of the loads among a pluralityof subsystems. FIG. 13 shows one example of the operational flow of thesystem 100 shown in FIG. 12, but the system 100 shown in FIG. 12 is notlimited to using this operational flow. Moreover, the operational flowof FIG. 13 may be performed by other systems. Furthermore, theoperational flow of the system shown in FIG. 13 omits descriptions basedon operations described in FIG. 3, and is not limited to the operationalflow shown in FIG. 3.

An acquiring section, such as the acquiring section 110, may acquire themap data of the geographic space to be managed by the system (S310).Next, an analyzing section, such as the analyzing section 120, analyzesthe acquired map area, and a dividing section, such as the dividingsection 130, may divide the map area according to this analysis (S320).Next, a receiving section, such as the receiving section 150, mayreceive the information transmitted from each of a plurality of movingobjects (S330). After this, in response to the request from a gatewayapparatus, such as the gateway apparatus 160, a region manager, such asthe region manager 140, may determine the regions in which the movingobjects are positioned, based on the position information received fromeach of the moving objects, and may determine the subsystem for managingthe maps of these regions from among the plurality of subsystems (S340).The gateway apparatus 160 may transfer each piece of receivedinformation, with the subsystem corresponding to the positioninformation as determined by the region manager 140 serving as thetransfer destination. The operations described above may be performed inthe same manner as the operations described in FIG. 3, and thereforefurther description is omitted.

The subsystems may respectively map (perform map matching for) thepieces of received information on a map of the management target regions(S342). Specifically, the identifying section may perform map matchingby searching for position on routes corresponding to the transferredposition information, from among the plurality of routes included in theindividual route information and the adjacent route information. Byusing the adjacent route information in addition to the individual routeinformation, the identifying section 220 can reduce the occurrence ofmap matching on a route differing from the route on which the movingobject is positioned and transferring management to the subsystemmanaging the adjacent region.

The region manager may determine whether or not the load placed on eachsubsystem is large (or small) (S350). If the load of one or more of thesubsystems is determined to be large or small (S350: Yes), the regionmanager may change the boundary of the region managed by the subsystemwhose load was determined to be large or small (S360). If instructionsfor suspending or stopping the operation have not been received, thenthe system may return to the operation of S330 for receiving informationfrom the moving objects and continue managing the subsystems. Theoperations of S350 to S370 described above may be performed insubstantially the same manner as the operations described in FIG. 3, andtherefore further description is omitted.

In the foregoing embodiment, in the system, each subsystem performs mapmatching based on information including the adjacent route informationadded to the individual route information of the management targetregion, and therefore it is possible to improve the accuracy of this mapmatching. Furthermore, the system dynamically changes the boundarymanaged by each subsystem according to the respective loads of thesubsystems, and can therefore adjust the balance of the loads among thesubsystems according to dynamic changes in the events and movingobjects.

A first example in which the system according to the present embodimentdescribed above improves the accuracy of the map matching is describedbelow using FIG. 14. FIG. 14 shows a second example of blocks managedrespectively by two subsystems, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 14 shows adjacent blocks B1 and B2 as an exampleof blocks managed by two subsystems. Block B1 is part of the managementtarget region of a first subsystem, e.g. region 1, and is adjacent themanagement target region of a second subsystem. Block B2 is part of themanagement target region of the second subsystem, e.g. region 2, and isadjacent the management target region of the first subsystem.

Block B1 includes route S1 on which a moving object moves, and block B2includes route S3. The first subsystem, whose management target regionincludes block B1, may manage information concerning a route in blockB2, which is adjacent the boundary of the management target region,which in this embodiment is the boundary between block B1 and block B2,as the adjacent route information. In other words, the first subsystemmay manage information concerning the routes in block B2, which includesroute S3. The first subsystem may manage, as the adjacent routeinformation, information concerning route S3 that can be selected as aroute that is the shortest distance from at least one point on theboundary of the management target region, among the routes in block B2.

In the same manner, the second subsystem, whose management target regionis block B2, may manage information concerning the routes in block B1,which is adjacent the boundary of the management target region. In otherwords, the second subsystem may manage, as the adjacent routeinformation, information concerning routes in block B1, which includesroute S1. The second subsystem may manage, as the adjacent routeinformation, information concerning route S1 that can be selected as aroute that is the shortest distance from at least one point on theboundary of the management target region, from among the routes in blockB1.

In response to a moving object transmitting the position P1 as theposition information, a region manager, such as the region manager 140,may determine the first subsystem, having a management target regionincluding block B1, to be the subsystem to manage this moving object. Agateway apparatus, such as the gateway apparatus 160, may transfer thisposition information to the first subsystem, according to thedetermination result of the region manager 140.

The first subsystem may search for the shortest route, among routeshaving lengths from position P1 to vertical lines passing through eachroute or to the nearest end point, among the routes managed in theindividual route information and the adjacent route information. FIG. 14shows an example in which the first subsystem searches route S3, forwhich the length from position P1 to a vertical line passing throughanother route is shortest, and finds the position P3 on route S3 as theposition of the moving object.

In this case, the subsystem may search the individual route informationand then search the adjacent route information. In other words, anidentifying section, such as the identifying section 220, in one of thesubsystems may be operable to use the individual route information toidentify a first route candidate for a route on which the moving objectis positioned in the management target region. The first subsystem mayidentify the first route candidate to be route S1, which is closest toposition information P1 of the moving object, from the individual routeinformation in block B1 serving as the management target region.

The identifying section may be operable to identify a second routecandidate for a route on which the moving object is positioned in theadjacent region, using the adjacent route information, on the conditionthat the position information indicates a position closer to theboundary of the management target region than the route of the firstroute candidate. Since position information P1 is closer to the boundaryof the management target region than route S1, the first subsystem mayidentify the second route candidate to be route S3, which is closest toposition information P1 in the adjacent route information.

The identifying section may be operable to identify the route on whichthe moving object is positioned while prioritizing the route of thesecond route candidate over the route of the first route candidate, inresponse to the observation position being closer to the route of thesecond route candidate than to the route of the first route candidate.The first subsystem may identify the route on which the moving object ispositioned while prioritizing route S1 of the second route candidateover route S3 of the first route candidate, in response to theobservation position P1 being closer to route S3 of the second routecandidate than to route S1 of the first route candidate.

In this way, since at least one subsystem searches for a routecorresponding to the position information of a boundary of themanagement target region among the individual route information and theadjacent route information, the system can improve the map matching. Inthis embodiment, at least one subsystem may select a plurality of routecandidates. In other words, the identifying section in at least one ofthe subsystems may be operable to identify a plurality of routecandidates on which the moving object could be located based on theobservation position, by using the individual route information and theadjacent route information managed by this subsystem. In this case, theat least one subsystem may identify a threshold number of routecandidates in order, beginning with the route closest to the positioninformation.

The identifying section in at least one subsystem may be operable toidentify, as a plurality of candidates for routes on which the movingobject is positioned, routes within a predetermined threshold errorrange from the observation position, by using the individual routeinformation and the adjacent route information managed by the at leastone subsystem. In response to an error R1 contained in the observationposition at which the moving object is observed, at least one subsystemmay determine that the moving object could be positioned within a circlewith a radius R1 centered on the position information P1. Since onlyroute S3 is included in this region, the first subsystem may determinethat the moving object is positioned on route S3.

In response to an error R2 contained in the observation position atwhich the moving object is observed, at least one subsystem maydetermine that the moving object could be positioned within a circlewith a radius R2 centered on the position information P1. Since bothroute S1 and route S3 are included in this region, the first subsystemmay determine route S1 and route S3 to be the route candidates. Anexample of subsystems identifying a plurality of routes in this manneris described below using FIG. 15.

FIG. 15 shows an example in which subsystems identify a plurality ofroutes as route candidates, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 15 shows an example in which a first subsystem managingregion 1 manages route S6 in a region near the boundary with region 2 asthe adjacent route information, and a second subsystem managing region 2manages route S5 in a region near the boundary with region 1 as theadjacent route information. FIG. 15 shows an example in which route S5in region 1 and route S6 in region 2 are near the boundary betweenregion 1 and region 2, and a moving object is moving on either route S5or route S6.

The moving object may transmit pieces of position information P10 to P15in time sequence, and since each position is near the boundary betweenregion 1 and region 2, a gateway apparatus, such as the gatewayapparatus 160, may transfer this position information to the firstsubsystem. Here, the observation error in the position information ofthe moving object is represented by a dotted circle centered on eachpiece of position information. The first subsystem may identify theroutes that are within a range of this observation error, determine thatthe position corresponding to position information P10 is position P50on route S5, and determine that the position corresponding to positioninformation P15 is position P55 on route S5.

According to the presence of a plurality of routes within the range ofthe observation error, the first subsystem may identify routes S5 and S6as the route candidates for the position information P11, and in thesame manner may identify routes S5 and S6 as route candidates for theposition information P12 to P14. Since the moving object can move on aroute but cannot move between routes that are not connected, if routesS5 and S6 run parallel to each other without intersecting, then themoving object continues moving on only one of these routes.

The identifying section may be operable to select, from a plurality ofroutes identified as candidate routes, a route on which the movingobject is most likely positioned while prioritizing routes that themoving object was determined to have been positioned on in the past. Inother words, in response to routes S5 and S6 being identified as routecandidates for the pieces of position information P11 to P14, theidentifying section may select route S5 to be the route on which themoving object is most likely moving in response to determining that acorresponding position of the moving object transmitted in the past hasbeen determined to be position P50 on route S5. For example, if themoving object travels along S5 every day, then the identifying sectionwill acknowledge that there is a stronger likelihood that the movingobject is on route S5 at this time.

In this way, the identifying section may map the moving object atpositions corresponding to the positions P51, P52, P53, and P54 on routeS5 for the pieces of position information P11 to P14. In the abovedescription, the identifying section 220 identifies a route for theposition information, but instead, the judging section 162 may determinea route corresponding to the position information of the moving objectbased on the results of the map matching performed by the subsystem. Inother words, the identifying section 220 may identify positioncandidates and positions for the position information, and transmit theidentification results to the gateway apparatus 160.

The judging section 162 may receive position P50 for the positioninformation P10, position candidates P51 to P54 and P61 to P64 for thepieces of position information P11 to P14, and P55 for the positioninformation P15. Since the position for the position information P10 isone point on route S5, the judging section 162 may determine that theroute on which the moving object is moving is route S5, and maydetermine that the position corresponding to the pieces of positioninformation P10 to P15 are position P50 to P55. Since the positioncorresponding to the position information P15 is position P55 on routeS5, the judging section 162 may determine that the moving object ismoving on route S5. The judging section 162 may notify the moving objectabout the determination results. If the plurality of routes cannot benarrowed to a single route despite the subsystem searching for acorresponding route using the individual route information and theadjacent route information, then the system can accurately select one ofthe routes among the plurality of identified candidates.

In the manner described above, the system can improve the map matchingaccuracy and prevent a decrease in the overall efficiency of the system.The present embodiment describes an example in which at least one of thesubsystems may perform management by dividing the management targetregion into a plurality of blocks. In this case, the at least onesubsystem may change the boundary of the region in block units andtransfer management of block units. In this way, the management regionof this subsystem may have a shape of the region therein changed inblock units, and the adjacent management target region may be also bechanged in block units along with this change.

FIG. 16 shows an example in which subsystems manage the managementtarget regions in block units, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 16 shows an example in which region 1 shaded by diagonallines is the management target region of a first subsystem. In this way,the subsystem may manage the management target region in block units,and may also manage the adjacent management target region in block unitsas shown by the region indicated by the dotted lines in the drawing, forexample.

In the system, if an actual route moves in a serpentine manner between aplurality of regions, the amount of information exchanged between thesubsystems increases in response to searching for events occurring inthe direction in which a moving object is moving on this route. FIG. 17shows a first example of a route moving back and forth between tworegions managed by two subsystems. FIG. 17 shows an example in whichregion 1 managed by the first subsystem is adjacent to region 2 managedby the second subsystem. FIG. 17 shows an example in which the boundarybetween the two regions crosses the route at a plurality of intersectionlocations. The plurality of intersection locations are shown byintersection locations B1 to B5.

For example, in response to the moving object moving to position K, thefirst subsystem may search for the occurrence of an event with positionK as the origin of the search. In this case, the first subsystem mayperform the search in a range that includes the route from position K,which is in the management target region, to intersection location B1.In a range that includes the route from intersection B1 to intersectionlocation B2, the first subsystem may transfer management to the secondsubsystem and, the second subsystem to which the management has beentransferred may search for the occurrence of an event with intersectionlocation B1 as the origin of the search, and may perform the search in arange including the route from intersection location B1, which is in themanagement target region, to intersection location B2.

Accordingly, every time the route on which the moving object moves is ageographical point intersecting the boundary between regions such asshown by intersection locations B1 to B5, management transfer occursbetween the two subsystems and the event search is again performed inthe town, which causes the amount of data exchanged between thesubsystems to increase and causes the load of a certain subsystem toincrease, thereby lowering the efficiency of the overall system.Therefore, the subsystems may hold information concerning a range fromthe region boundary in which it is possible to perform an event searchin advance, thereby reducing the number of repeated event searches andthe exchange of data between the subsystems.

FIG. 18 shows a second example of a route that runs back and forthbetween two regions managed by two subsystems, according to anembodiment of the present invention. In the same manner as in FIG. 17,FIG. 18 shows an example in which region 1 managed by the firstsubsystem is adjacent to region 2 managed by the second subsystem, andthe border between the two regions crosses the route at intersectionlocations B1 to B5. The first subsystem may hold event information ofregion 1 and event information of a region including this route inregion 2. In this way, the first subsystem can search for an eventoccurring in a range that includes this route at position K before themoving object moves beyond intersection location B1 from region 1 toregion 2. In other words, the subsystem according to the presentembodiment can decrease the number of repetitions of the event searchand the amount of data exchanged between subsystems and set the originof the search for this route to be position K of the moving object priorto moving on the portion of the route crossing between regions.

FIG. 19 shows an exemplary configuration of the system 100, according toan embodiment of the present invention. In the system 100 in thisembodiment, the subsystem 200 includes an event selecting section 230.All components other than the event selecting section 230 may havesubstantially the same operation as the components in the system 100 inFIGS. 2 and 12. Therefore, the description of the system 100 in thisembodiment omits the descriptions of all components other than the eventselecting section 230. The operation of the system 100 in thisembodiment is not limited to the operation of the system 100 in FIGS. 2and 12. Also, other system may be capable of the operations of thesystem 100 in this embodiment.

In the system 100 in this embodiment, the managing section 210 of atleast one subsystem 200 among the plurality of subsystems 200 operatesin the following manner. The managing section 210 may be operable tomanage individual event information for events occurring within themanagement target region of the at least one subsystem 200 among theplurality of regions, and adjacent event information for eventsoccurring in a predetermined partial range from the boundary of themanagement target region among the regions adjacent to the managementtarget region. In other words, the managing section 210 may manageadjacent event information for a portion of an adjacent region inaddition to the individual event information. Specifically, in searchingfor an event occurring in each route, the managing section 210 maysearch both the individual event information and the adjacent eventinformation.

The managing section 210 may be operable to manage the adjacent eventinformation by selecting events while giving priority to eventsoccurring within a range from the boundary of the management targetregion. For example, the managing section 210 may select events whileprioritizing events occurring within a distance range from the boundaryof the management target region in a direction away from the managementtarget region, and manage these events as the adjacent eventinformation.

The managing section 210 may be operable to manage the adjacent eventinformation by selecting events while prioritizing events occurring in apredetermined partial range from each intersection location where theboundary of the management target region intersects with a route. Inother words, the managing section 210 may hold information concerningevents that occur within a prescribed range from a route crossing point,i.e. an intersection location, where the route is crossed by a boundary,in addition to the individual event information.

In this case, the managing section 210 may be operable to calculate, foreach intersection location, the range in which a moving object 10 thathas passed the intersection point travels within a threshold time, basedon history of movement of a plurality of moving objects 10, and toperform management in this range. For example, the managing section 210may store the history of a plurality of moving objects 10 and acquire anaverage movement speed and a maximum movement speed at which the movingobjects 10 move on each route, to determine the range.

The managing section 210 may be operable to manage the adjacent eventinformation by selecting events while prioritizing events occurringwithin a range that is no greater than a threshold search distance fromeach intersection location. In other words, the managing section 210 mayhold information concerning events occurring within a prescribed searchdistance from a route crossing point where the route is crossed by theboundary, in addition to the individual event information. For example,the managing section 210 may hold information concerning eventsoccurring within a range that is the maximum search distance that can becovered by a single search.

The managing section 210 may be operable to manage the adjacent eventinformation by selecting events while prioritizing events occurring in arange that can be reached by a moving object 10 from each intersectionlocation within a threshold time. In other words, the managing section210 may hold information concerning events in a range that can bereached in a predetermined threshold time from a route crossing point atwhich the route is crossed by the boundary, in addition to theindividual event information. The managing section 210 may determine therange that can be reached by a moving object 10 within the predeterminedthreshold time based on information concerning the speed limit of theroute, the maximum speed of the moving object 10, and the like.

The managing section 210 may be operable to change the range of eventsto be prioritized for selection in correspondence with the intersectionlocations, based on a characteristic of the route crossing themanagement target region at the intersection location. In other words,the managing section 210 may change the range of the adjacent regionover which the adjacent event information is to be managed according toa characteristic of the route.

In this case, the managing section 210 may be operable to change therange over which the events are to be selected with priority inassociation with the intersection locations, based on at least onecharacteristic including the speed limit, the average speed, and thetraffic state of the route crossing the management target region at eachof the intersection locations. For example, if one route is a freewaywith a speed limit of 100 km/h, a moving object 10 may move faster onthis route than on other routes, and therefore the managing section 210may hold information concerning events in a range that can be reached bya moving object 10 on this route in a predetermined threshold time. Ifthere is a traffic jam on this freeway route or a reduced speed limitdue to bad weather, a moving object 10 is expected to move atapproximately the same speed on this route as on other routes, and themanaging section 210 may hold information concerning events occurring ina designated search distance of a designated range for this route. Inthis way, the managing section 210 may change the held event informationaccording to a characteristic reflecting the state of a route.

The event selecting section 230 may be operable to select events aboutwhich the moving object 10 is to be notified, from the adjacent eventinformation and the individual event information managed by at least onesubsystem 200. The event selecting section 230 may select, as an eventabout which the moving object 10 is to be notified, a held eventobtained by searching the route on which the moving object 10 moves,from among the held events obtained by each managing section 210searching the adjacent event information and the individual eventinformation for each route. At least one subsystem 200 may notify amoving object 10 about an event, according to the selection results ofthe event selecting section 230. The operation of the system 100described above is described below using FIG. 20.

FIG. 20 shows an operational flow of a system, according to anembodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment describes anexample in which a system, such as the system 100 of FIG. 19, performsthe operations from S310 to S370 shown in FIG. 20, to efficiently notifya moving object about event information while dynamically balancing theloads of the plurality of subsystems. FIG. 20 shows an exemplaryoperational flow of the system 100 shown in FIG. 19, but the operationalflow shown in FIG. 20 is not limited to this system. The description ofthe operational flow in this embodiment omits descriptions that arebased on the operations described in FIG. 3, but the operational flowshown in FIG. 20 is not limited by the operational flow shown in FIG. 3.

An acquiring section, such as the acquiring section 110, may acquire mapdata of the geographic space to be managed by the system (S310). Next,an analyzing section, such as the analyzing section 120, may analyze theacquired map area and a dividing section, such as the dividing section130, may divide the map area according to the analysis (S320). Theseoperations may be performed in the same manner as the operationsdescribed in FIG. 3, and therefore further description is omitted.

Next, the subsystems that respectively manage the regions resulting fromthe division may manage the event information in each region (S322).Specifically, the managing section of each subsystem may search forroutes in the management target region and hold event informationoccurring in these routes as the individual event information.Furthermore, the managing section of at least one subsystem among theplurality of subsystems may hold, in addition to the individual eventinformation, adjacent event information for a portion of an adjacentregion.

Next, a receiving section, such as the receiving section 150, mayreceive information transmitted from each of a plurality of movingobjects (S330). After this, in response to a request from a gatewayapparatus, such as the gateway apparatus 160, the region manager maydetermine the regions where each of the moving objects is positioned,based on the position information received from the moving objects, andmay determine the subsystems to manage the maps of these regions fromamong the plurality of subsystems (S340).

The gateway apparatus may transfer, to each subsystem determined by theregion manager to correspond to a piece of position information, thecorresponding piece of position information. The subsystems may performmanagement by performing mapping on the maps of the management targetregions based on the received position information.

Each event selecting section, such as even selecting section 230, mayselect the events about which a moving object is to be notified, fromamong the individual event information managed by the correspondingsubsystem. Due to a subsystem managing the individual event informationand adjacent event information, the corresponding event selectingsection may select the events about which the moving object is to benotified from among the individual event information and the adjacentevent information.

The subsystems may supply the event information to the gateway apparatusin order to notify the corresponding moving object about the events,according to the selection results of the event selecting sections. Thegateway apparatus may notify the corresponding moving object about theevent information, via a transmitting section, such as the transmittingsection 152 (S344).

The region manager may determine whether or not the load placed on eachsubsystem is large (or small) (S350). If the load of one or more of thesubsystems is determined to be large or small (S350: Yes), the regionmanager may change the boundary of the region managed by the subsystemwhose load was determined to be large or small (S360). If instructionsfor suspending or stopping the operation have not been received, thesystem may return to the operation (S330) of receiving information fromthe moving objects 10 and continue managing the subsystems. Theoperations of S350 to S370 described above may be performed insubstantially the same manner as the operations described in FIG. 3, andtherefore further description is omitted.

As described above, at least one subsystem may manage the individualevent information and adjacent event information, and select eventsabout which a moving object is to be notified from the individual eventinformation and the adjacent event information, and notify the movingobject about these events. In this way, by managing the adjacent eventinformation for a route that runs in a serpentine manner at a boundaryof the management target region, a subsystem can search for eventsoccurring on this route and notify a moving object moving on this routeabout the event information that has been found.

Accordingly, even though a route may run in a serpentine manner at aboundary of a management target region, the system can notify the movingobject moving on this route about the event information withouttransferring management between subsystems adjacent to this boundary,and can therefore prevent an increase in the loads. Furthermore, thesystem can dynamically change the boundaries of the regions managed bythe subsystems according to the respective loads of the subsystem, whileproviding notification about the event information, and can adjust thebalance of the loads of the subsystems in accordance with dynamicchanges such as events and moving objects 10.

Due to the managing section of a subsystem storing a history of aplurality of moving objects, the system may use this history todynamically change the boundary of the management target region. Forexample, in response to the changing the boundary of a subsystem, theregion manager may instruct the subsystem to change the boundary to beat a position where there is less history of moving object movement,based on the history stored by the managing section. For example, thesubsystem may calculate the maximum movement distance of a moving objectfrom the boundary in a prescribed time based on the movement history,and may change this boundary to be at a position farther from theboundary than the maximum movement distance. The subsystem may changethe boundary such that the boundary after the change results in a lowertraffic amount crossing the boundary compared to the traffic amountbefore the change.

FIG. 21 shows an example of management target region in a case whereeach of a plurality of subsystems manages the individual eventinformation and adjacent event information, according to an embodimentof the present invention. FIG. 21 shows an example in which a firstsubsystem manages region 1, a second subsystem manages region 2, a thirdsubsystem manages region 3, and a fourth subsystem manages region 4.

FIG. 21 shows an example in which each subsystem manages, as theadjacent event information, events occurring in a range from a boundaryof the management target region in a direction outward from themanagement target region. The first subsystem may set an expanded regionfor region 1 that extends beyond region 1 in the range shown by thedotted lines, and manage the events occurring in this expanded region asthe adjacent event information. In the same manner, each of the secondto fourth subsystems may manage, as the adjacent event information,events occurring in an expanded region shown outside of the boundary ofthe management target region.

Each managing section may search for events within a range from eachintersection location on the boundary of the management target region.For example, the managing section of the first subsystem may search forevents in a range from position P1 on the route in the management targetregion. In the same manner, the managing section of the second subsystemmay search for events in a range from position P2 on the route in themanagement target region. As a result of the searches by the managingsections, two or more subsystems may all manage a single event.

FIG. 22 shows a first example of the results of a plurality of managingsections searching for events from each intersection location, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. Among the routes shown inFIG. 22, examples of search ranges are shown by the solid lines. FIG. 22shows an example in which each managing section searches for eventsoccurring in a range from each intersection location, and holds theseevents.

FIG. 23 shows a second example of results obtained by the plurality ofmanaging sections searching for events from each intersection location,according to an embodiment of the present invention. Among the routesshown in FIG. 23, examples of search ranges are shown by the solidlines. FIG. 23 shows an example in which each managing section searchesfor events occurring in a distance range that can be reached by a movingobject from each intersection location within a predetermined thresholdtime, and holds these events. In this case, routes such as freeways androads only for automobiles tend to result in a longer reachable distancewithin the prescribed time than normal roads, and routes such asone-lane roads and local roads tend to result in a shorter reachabledistance within the prescribed time than normal roads.

In response to an update of the map corresponding to the geographicspace, the map managed within the system may also be updated. In thisway, even though the map of an application used by a moving object maybe updated, the system can exchange information using the correspondingmap. The system may hold information concerning past versions of thismap. In this way, even though the application used by the moving objectmay be using a past version of the map, the system can exchangeinformation using the corresponding map.

FIG. 24 shows an example of a map corresponding to a geographic spacemanaged by the system, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 24 shows an example of a map that includes a town T1, atown T2, and a town T3. The number of routes, buildings, and the like isgreater in places with focused populations, such as towns, and thereforethere is a greater amount of map data in such places. Changes in theroutes or buildings in geographical locations with focused populationsoccur more quickly than changes in geographical region where there arefew people, and therefore changes that accompany a map update tend to befocused in geographical locations with greater populations. In thiscase, there are cases where the map update is performed only ingeographical locations with greater populations.

Specifically, the map data for regions including town T1, town T2, andtown T3 increases by a greater amount than the map data for otherregions. FIG. 25 shows an example of data fluctuation in each regionthat accompanies an update of the map used by the system, according toan embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 25 shows regions in thehorizontal axis direction and shows the data size for each version onthe vertical axis. For example, region A is shown to be updatedsequentially from version 1 to version 4 with each update havingapproximately the same data size. In other words, region A is updatedfrequently and the total update data size is greater than that of otherregions.

Region B is updated only in versions 1 and 2, and the update data sizefor each update is smaller than the update data size of region A. Inother words, region B is updated infrequently and has a total updatedata size that is less than in other regions. Region C and region D eachhave an update frequency and update data size smaller than those ofregion A, but greater than those of region B.

In this case, the subsystem managing region A has a higher load due tomanaging a larger data amount than in the other regions, and so the loadis focused on this subsystem, and the efficiency of the system isreduced. Therefore, the system may reduce the update data size bychanging the management target region of each subsystem.

FIG. 26 shows an example in which the system changes the managementtarget regions of a plurality of subsystems, according to an embodimentof the present invention. FIG. 26 shows an example in which the systemdivides each of four regions in half, to form eight regions. The systemmay use four new subsystems so that the eight regions are managedrespectively by a total of eight subsystems.

In a case where the area size of a management target region is greaterthan that of an update block that is a unit of geographical area forupdating the map data, the management target region includes both updateblocks with high update frequency and update blocks with low updatefrequency. Therefore, as an example, the system 100 according to thepresent invention may perform the division by grouping together in oneregion many update blocks with a high update frequency in the regionsbefore division and grouping together in another region many updateblocks with a low update frequency, thereby decreasing the update datasize after the division.

FIG. 26 shows an example in which the system divides region A shown inFIG. 25 into region A1 and region A2, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. In this example, among the blocks in region A beforedivision, the system groups together the update blocks with high updatefrequency in region A1 and groups together the update blocks with lowupdate frequency in region A2. In this way, the update data size ofregion A1 becomes approximately half of the data size of region A, andthe update data size of region A2 becomes approximately ¼ of the datasize of region A.

FIG. 26 shows an example in which, in the same manner, the systemdivides each of region C and region D in half, to decrease the updatedata size after the division. In a case where the region before thedivision includes a plurality of update blocks with almost nodifferences in update frequency, the update data size will barely changeas a result of dividing this region. Region B in FIG. 25 shows anexample of such a region, where even though the system divides region Binto region B1 and region B2, there is almost no change in the totalupdate data size, as shown in FIG. 26. In such a case, two subsystemsmanage the two regions resulting from the division, and therefore theupdate data size that is processed by each subsystem is no greater thanhalf, thereby lowering the load on each subsystem.

In this way, the system can decrease the loads on the subsystems byreducing the area size of the management target regions. Furthermore, bycombining regions with small update data sizes, the system can increasethe load on one subsystem that has a relatively small load, and put theother subsystem on standby. In other words, the system according to thepresent embodiment may change the management target regions in a mannerto make the update data sizes more uniform, and can therefore optimizethe loads of the subsystems. The system may change the management targetregions in update block units.

FIG. 27 shows an exemplary configuration of a system 100, according toan embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the system100 includes an update manager 180. All components other than the updatemanager 180 in the system 100 may have substantially the same operationas the components in the system 100 in FIG. 2. The description of thesystem 100 omits the descriptions of all components other than theupdate manager 180, but the operation of the system 100 of thisembodiment is not limited to the operation of the system 100 in FIG. 2.

The update manager 180 may be operable to change boundaries of theupdate blocks serving as update units in a map, according to the extentto which the update blocks are updated. The subsystems 200 respectivelymanage the maps of a plurality of regions, and the update manager 180may be operable to change a boundary of at least one of the plurality ofregions based on the extent to which the map corresponding to the atleast one region is updated.

The map may include at least one update block corresponding to each of aplurality of regions. In this case, the update manager 180 may beoperable to change the boundary of the update block based on the extentto which the update block in the at least one region among the pluralityof regions is updated. The update manager 180 may be operable to changethe boundary of a region in update block units.

The update manager 180 may be operable to change the boundary of anupdate block based on at least one of the update frequency, the updatedata amount, the number of update files, the update data loading time,and the update load of the map corresponding to the update block. Theupdate manager 180 may communicate with the acquiring section 110 toacquire information concerning the update frequency, the update dataamount, the number of update files, and the update data loading time ofthe map corresponding to the update block. The update manager 180 maycommunicate with the region manager 140 to acquire informationconcerning the update frequency, the update data amount, the number ofupdate files, the update data loading time, and the update load of themap.

FIG. 28 shows an operational flow of a system, according to anembodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment describes anexample in which the system performs the operations from S310 to S370shown in FIG. 28 to dynamically adjust the balance of the loads of aplurality of subsystems while updating the map data. FIG. 28 shows oneexample of the operational flow of the system 100 shown in FIG. 27, butthe system 100 shown in FIG. 27 is not limited to using this operationalflow. Furthermore, the operational flow shown in FIG. 28 omitsdescriptions based on operations described in FIG. 3, but is not limitedto the operational flow shown in FIG. 3.

An acquiring section, such as the acquiring section 110, may acquire themap data of the geographic space to be managed by the system (S310).Next, an analyzing section, such as the analyzing section 120, analyzesthe acquired map area, and a dividing section, such as the dividingsection 130, may divide the map area according to this analysis (S320).The operations described above may be performed in the same manner asthe operation described in FIG. 3, and therefore further description isomitted.

Next, an update manager, such as the update manager 180, may checkwhether the map has been updated, via the acquiring section (S324). Ifthe map has not been updated (S324: No), then a receiving section, suchas the receiving section 150, may receive information transmitted fromeach of the moving objects (S330). Next, in response to the request froma gateway apparatus, such as the gateway apparatus 160, the regionmanager may determine the regions in which the moving objects arepositioned, based on the position information received from each of themoving objects, and may determine the subsystem for managing the maps ofthese regions from among the plurality of subsystems (S340).

The region manager may determine whether or not the load placed on eachsubsystem is large (or small) (S350). If the load of one or more of thesubsystems is determined to be large or small (S350: Yes), then theregion manager may change the boundary of the region managed by thesubsystem whose load was determined to be large or small (S360). Ifinstructions for suspending or stopping the operation have not beenreceived, then the system may return to the operation (S330) ofreceiving information from the moving objects, and continue managing thesubsystems. In other words, if the map has not been updated, then thesystem may manage the management target region by performingsubstantially the same operations as described in FIG. 3, and thereforefurther description is omitted.

On the other hand, if the map has been updated (S324: Yes), then theupdate manager may acquire the updated map data via the acquiringsection (S326). Here, the update manager may acquire the informationconcerning the extent to which the update block is updated, such as theupdate frequency, the update data amount, the number of update files,and the update data loading time of the map corresponding to the updateblock.

The update manager may update the map data in the system based on theupdated map data. For example, the update manager may store the updatedmap data in a memory unit, such as the memory unit 142, of the regionmanager, and the region manager may supply the plurality of subsystemswith the stored map data. The update manager may transmit the updatedmap data to the plurality of subsystems.

The update manager may change the boundary of the update block in atleast one of the plurality of regions, based on the extent to which theupdate block is updated. Furthermore, the update manager may update theboundary of at least one of the plurality of regions, based on theextent to which an update block within the region is updated (S360).

The update manager may be operable to divide an update block into aplurality of update blocks, if the extent to which the update block isupdated is greater than or equal to an upper limit value. In otherwords, if the update frequency, the update data amount, the number ofupdate files, the update data loading time, and/or the update load ofthe map for an update block exceeds a reference value, then the updatemanager may divide this update block. The update manager may change theboundary of a region having an update block in response to the divisionof the update block. The update manager may change the boundary in amanner to divide this region.

The update manager may be operable to combine a plurality of adjacentupdate blocks and merge these update blocks into a new update block, ifthe total extent to which these update blocks are updated is less thanor equal to a lower limit value. In other words, if the updatefrequency, the update data amount, the number of update files, theupdate data loading time, and/or the update load of the map for aplurality of update blocks is less than or equal to a reference value,then the update manager may combine these update blocks. The updatemanager may change the boundary of the region including the new updateblock in response to update blocks being combined. The update managermay change the boundary in a manner to combine these regions. The updatemanager may change the boundary of a region including a changed updateblock in response to the changed boundary of this update block.

The update manager may store information concerning the boundaries ofthe regions and the boundaries of the update blocks that have beenchanged in the memory unit of the region manager. The region manager maysupply the subsystems with the stored map data. The subsystems maymanage the management target regions based on the changed map data. Inother words, the operation may return to S330 for receiving theinformation from the moving objects, and the management of thesubsystems may continue.

In this case, the subsystem may be operable to acquire versioninformation of the map possessed by the moving object, and to reflectthe updated data in the update blocks according to the versiondesignated by this version information. The subsystem may be operable toprovide a service to the moving object, based on the update block thatreflects the update data. In this way, the subsystem can manage themoving object in accordance with the version of the map used by themoving object.

In this way, the system may change the boundary of an update block andthe boundary of a region, according to a map update. Therefore, thesystem can adjust the balance of loads among the subsystems bypreventing an increase in the load of a subsystem caused by an increasein update data and preventing a decrease in a load of a subsystem causedby a small amount of update data. The system can also manage a pluralityof map versions and manage a moving object in accordance with the mapversion used by the moving object.

In the system, the map update may be a full data update that performs anupdate for all geographical locations, or may instead be a differentialdata update that performs an update only for some geographicallocations. FIG. 29 shows an example of a map data update, according toan embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 29 shows an example inwhich the map data of the map area is sequentially updated. FIG. 29shows an example in which version 1.0 of the map data is the initialstate, known as the base version. The map data of version 1.0 includesthe data of the entire map area, and therefore may be the full data thathas a large file size.

The map data in which a portion of the map area has been updated is setas version 1.1, and this map data may a differential data update fromversion 1.0 that has a smaller file size than the map data of version1.0. Next, the map data in which a different portion of the map area hasbeen updated is set as version 1.2, and this map data may be adifferential data update from version 1.1 that has a smaller file sizethan the map data of version 1.0. Furthermore, map data in which theentire map area is updated is set as version 2.0, and this map data maybe a full data update that has a file size approximately equivalent tothe map data of version 1.0.

In this way, the map update may include sequentially updating partialgeographical locations and then updating all regions. In this way, thesystem may change the boundaries of the update blocks and the boundariesof the regions according to partial updates and full updates.

FIG. 30 shows an example in which the system changes the boundaries ofupdate blocks and the boundaries of regions according to a map dataupdate, according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 30(A)shows an example in which, first, the map area is divided in its initialstate. In this case, the acquiring section may acquire the map data ofthe base version in the initial state, and the dividing section maydivide the map area according to the analysis results of the analyzingsection for the map data of the base version. The dividing section maydivide the map area into shapes substantially equal to the shapes of themap data update blocks. FIG. 30(A) shows an example in which the maparea is divided into shapes substantially equal to the square updateregions.

The update manager may update the map in response to the map beingupdated. FIG. 30(B) shows results obtained by sequentially updating aportion of the map. For an updated map, the update manager may changethe boundaries of the update blocks and the boundaries of the regions.FIG. 30(C) shows an example in which the update manager divides eachregion whose update frequency is higher than that of other regions intofour regions. In accordance with this division, the update manager maydivide each region having approximately the same shape as a region witha high update frequency into four regions. In this way, focusing of aload on a subsystem due to an increase in the update data can beprevented.

FIG. 30(C) shows an example in which the update manager combines each ofa set of two regions and a set of four regions whose update frequenciesare lower than those of other regions into one region. In accordancewith this combining, the update manager may combine the correspondingregions having approximately the same shapes as the regions with lowupdate frequency respectively into one region. In this way, the decreasein the load of a subsystem caused by regions with a smaller amount ofupdate data than other regions can be prevented.

FIG. 30(C) shows an example in which the subsystems manage regionshaving substantially the same shapes as the update blocks. Instead, thesubsystems may manage regions that each includes a plurality of updateblocks. FIG. 31 shows an example in which the subsystems respectivelymanage regions that each includes a plurality of update blocks,according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 31 shows anexample in which adjacent regions A and B are managed respectively bytwo subsystems.

Region A and region B may each include a plurality of update blocks. Inother words, region A and region B may each experience updates of themap data for each portion within the region. FIG. 31 shows an example inwhich the map data update is performed at nine locations in region A andthe map data update is performed at one location in region B. FIG. 31shows an example in which, as a result of the map data updates, the loadof the subsystem managing region A increases such that a load is focusedon one subsystem in the system.

In this case, the system changes the boundary between region A andregion B, in a manner to disperse the increased load on the subsystemmanaging region A. FIG. 32 shows an example in which the update managerchanges the boundaries of the adjacent regions A and B, according to anembodiment of the present invention. In other words, FIG. 32 shows anexample in which the update manager changes the boundary between regionA and region B, which is shown by a dotted line, to the position shownby the solid line. In this example, the update blocks whose map data isupdated in region A are reduced from nine locations to six locations,and the update blocks whose map data is updated in region B areincreased from one location to four locations. In this way, the systemcan prevent the focusing of a load on a subsystem caused by an increasein the update data.

FIG. 33 shows an exemplary configuration of a computer 1900 according toan embodiment of the invention. The computer 1900 according to thepresent embodiment includes a CPU 2000, a RAM 2020, a graphicscontroller 2075, and a display apparatus 2080 which are mutuallyconnected by a host controller 2082. The computer 1900 also includesinput/output units such as a communication interface 2030, a hard diskdrive 2040, and a DVD-ROM drive 2060 which are connected to the hostcontroller 2082 via an input/output controller 2084. The computer alsoincludes legacy input/output units such as a ROM 2010 and a keyboard2050 which are connected to the input/output controller 2084 through aninput/output chip 2070.

The host controller 2082 connects the RAM 2020 with the CPU 2000 and thegraphics controller 2075 which access the RAM 2020 at a high transferrate. The CPU 2000 operates according to programs stored in the ROM 2010and the RAM 2020, thereby controlling each unit. The graphics controller2075 obtains image data generated by the CPU 2000 on a frame buffer orthe like provided in the RAM 2020, and causes the image data to bedisplayed on the display apparatus 2080. Alternatively, the graphicscontroller 2075 may contain therein a frame buffer or the like forstoring image data generated by the CPU 2000.

The input/output controller 2084 connects the host controller 2082 withthe communication interface 2030, the hard disk drive 2040, and theDVD-ROM drive 2060, which are relatively high-speed input/output units.The communication interface 2030 communicates with other electronicdevices via a network. The hard disk drive 2040 stores programs and dataused by the CPU 2000 within the computer 1900. The DVD-ROM drive 2060reads the programs or the data from the DVD-ROM 2095, and provides thehard disk drive 2040 with the programs or the data via the RAM 2020.

The ROM 2010 and the keyboard 2050 and the input/output chip 2070, whichare relatively low-speed input/output units, are connected to theinput/output controller 2084. The ROM 2010 stores therein a boot programor the like executed by the computer 1900 at the time of activation, aprogram depending on the hardware of the computer 1900. The keyboard2050 inputs text data or commands from a user, and may provide the harddisk drive 2040 with the text data or the commands via the RAM 2020. Theinput/output chip 2070 connects a keyboard 2050 to an input/outputcontroller 2084, and may connect various input/output units via aparallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, and thelike to the input/output controller 2084.

A program to be stored on the hard disk drive 2040 via the RAM 2020 isprovided by a recording medium as the DVD-ROM 2095, and an IC card. Theprogram is read from the recording medium, installed into the hard diskdrive 2040 within the computer 1900 via the RAM 2020, and executed inthe CPU 2000.

A program that is installed in the computer 1900 and causes the computer1900 to function as a system, such as system 100 of FIG. 1, includes anacquiring module, an analyzing module, a dividing module, a regionmanaging module, a storage module, a boundary managing module, adetermining module, a receiving module, a transmitting module, a gatewaymodule, a judging module, a monitoring module, a subsystem module amanaging module, and an identifying module. The program or module actson the CPU 2000, to cause the computer 1900 to function as an acquiringsection, an analyzing section, a dividing section, a region manager, astorage section, a boundary managing section, a determining section, areceiving section, a transmitting section, a gateway apparatus, ajudging section, a monitoring section, a subsystem, a managing section,and an identifying section, such as the acquiring section 110, theanalyzing section 120, the dividing section 130, the region manager 140,the storage section 142, the boundary managing section 144, thedetermining section 146, the receiving section 150, the transmittingsection 152, the gateway apparatus 160, the judging section 162, themonitoring section 170, the subsystem 200, the managing section 210, andthe identifying section 220 described above.

The information processing described in these programs is read into thecomputer 1900, to function as an acquiring section, an analyzingsection, a dividing section, a region manager, a storage section, aboundary managing section, a determining section, a receiving section, atransmitting section, a gateway apparatus, a judging section, amonitoring section, a subsystem, a managing section, and an identifyingsection, which are the result of cooperation between the program ormodule and the above-mentioned various types of hardware resources.Moreover, the system is constituted by realizing the operation orprocessing of information in accordance with the usage of the computer1900.

For example when communication is performed between the computer 1900and an external device, the CPU 2000 may execute a communication programloaded onto the RAM 2020, to instruct communication processing to acommunication interface 2030, based on the processing described in thecommunication program. The communication interface 2030, under controlof the CPU 2000, reads the transmission data stored on the transmissionbuffering region provided in the recording medium, such as a RAM 2020, ahard disk drive 2040, or a DVD-ROM 2095, and transmits the readtransmission data to a network, or writes reception data received from anetwork to a reception buffering region or the like provided on therecording medium. In this way, the communication interface 2030 mayexchange transmission/reception data with the recording medium by a DMA(direct memory access) method, or by a configuration that the CPU 2000reads the data from the recording medium or the communication interface2030 of a transfer destination, to write the data into the communicationinterface 2030 or the recording medium of the transfer destination, soas to transfer the transmission/reception data.

In addition, the CPU 2000 may cause all or a necessary portion of thefile of the database to be read into the RAM 2020 such as by DMAtransfer, the file or the database having been stored in an externalrecording medium such as the hard disk drive 2040, the DVD-ROM drive2060 (DVD-ROM 2095) to perform various types of processing onto the dataon the RAM 2020. The CPU 2000 may then write back the processed data tothe external recording medium by means of a DMA transfer method or thelike. In such processing, the RAM 2020 can be considered to temporarilystore the contents of the external recording medium, and so the RAM2020, the external recording apparatus, and the like are collectivelyreferred to as a memory, a storage section, a recording medium, acomputer readable medium, etc. Various types of information, such asvarious types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored inthe recording apparatus, to undergo information processing. Note thatthe CPU 2000 may also use a part of the RAM 2020 to performreading/writing thereto on the cache memory. In such an embodiment, thecache is considered to be contained in the RAM 2020, the memory, and/orthe recording medium unless noted otherwise, since the cache memoryperforms part of the function of the RAM 2020.

The CPU 2000 may perform various types of processing, onto the data readfrom the RAM 2020, which includes various types of operations,processing of information, condition judging, search/replace ofinformation, etc., as described in the present embodiment and designatedby an instruction sequence of programs, and writes the result back tothe RAM 2020. For example, when performing condition judging, the CPU2000 may judge whether each type of variable shown in the presentembodiment is larger, smaller, no smaller than, no greater than, orequal to the other variable or constant, and when the condition judgingresults in the affirmative (or in the negative), the process branches toa different instruction sequence, or calls a sub routine.

In addition, the CPU 2000 may search for information in a file, adatabase, etc., in the recording medium. For example, when a pluralityof entries, each having an attribute value of a first attribute isassociated with an attribute value of a second attribute, are stored ina recording apparatus, the CPU 2000 may search for an entry matching thecondition whose attribute value of the first attribute is designated,from among the plurality of entries stored in the recording medium, andreads the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry,thereby obtaining the attribute value of the second attribute associatedwith the first attribute satisfying the predetermined condition.

The above-explained program or module may be stored in an externalrecording medium. Exemplary recording mediums include a DVD-ROM 2095, aswell as an optical recording medium such as a Blu-ray Disk or a CD, amagneto-optic recording medium such as a MO, a tape medium, and asemiconductor memory such as an IC card. In addition, a recording mediumsuch as a hard disk or a RAM provided in a server system connected to adedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as arecording medium, thereby providing the program to the computer 1900 viathe network.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to individualize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described, thetechnical scope of the invention is not limited to the above describedembodiments. It is apparent to persons skilled in the art that variousalterations and improvements can be added to the above-describedembodiments. It is also apparent from the scope of the claims that theembodiments added with such alterations or improvements can be includedin the technical scope of the invention.

The operations, procedures, steps, and stages of each process performedby an apparatus, system, program, and method shown in the claims,embodiments, or diagrams can be performed in any order as long as theorder is not indicated by “prior to,” “before,” or the like and as longas the output from a previous process is not used in a later process.Even if the process flow is described using phrases such as “first” or“next” in the claims, embodiments, or diagrams, it does not necessarilymean that the process must be performed in this order.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for managing mobileobjects comprising: managing a map of a geographic space including aroute, wherein managing the geographic space comprises managing a mobileobject, wherein the map of the geographic space comprises a first updateblock and a second update block, and wherein the first update block andthe second update block define a boundary in which an update to the mapoccurs, and wherein the first update block and the second update blockshare a common boundary; managing updates to the map of the geographicspace by updating contents of the first update block; changing thecommon boundary between the first update block and the second updateblock to prevent a load imbalance based on an extent to which the firstupdate block is updated, and wherein the extent to which the firstupdate block is updated comprises an attribute selected from the groupconsisting of an update frequency, an update data amount, a number ofupdate files, and an update data loading time of the map correspondingto the first update block, and further comprising dividing the firstupdate block into a plurality of update blocks if the update frequencythat the first update block is updated exceeds a limit value.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising managing aplurality of regions of the geographic space.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2 wherein changing the boundarybetween two regions of the plurality of regions is based on an extent towhich the map of the two regions is updated.
 4. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 2 further comprising combining the first update blockand a third update block of the map of the geographic space if theupdate frequency that the first update block is updated is below a limitvalue.
 5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 furthercomprising: acquiring version information of a map possessed by themoving object, reflecting update data in the first update blockaccording to a version designated by the version information, andprovide a service to a moving object based on the first update blockthat reflects the update data.
 6. A computer-implemented method formanaging mobile objects comprising: managing a map of a geographic spaceincluding a route, wherein managing the geographic space comprisesmanaging a mobile object, and wherein the map of the geographic spacecomprises a plurality of update blocks, wherein each update blockdefines a boundary in which an update to the map occurs; managingupdates to the map of the geographic space by updating contents of theupdate block; changing the boundary between the plurality of updateblocks to prevent a load imbalance based on an extent to which eachupdate block is updated, and wherein the extent to which the updateblock is updated comprises an attribute selected from the groupconsisting of an update frequency, an update data amount, a number ofupdate files, and an update data loading time of the map correspondingto the update block, and further comprising dividing the update blockinto a plurality of update blocks if the update frequency that theupdate block is updated exceeds a limit value.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising managing aplurality of regions of the geographic space.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 7 wherein changing the boundarybetween two regions of the plurality of regions is based on an extent towhich the map of the two regions is updated.
 9. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 7 further comprising combining update blocks of the mapof the geographic space if the update frequency that the plurality ofupdate blocks is updated is below a limit value.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method according to claim 6 further comprising:acquiring version information of a map possessed by a moving object,reflecting update data in the update block according to a versiondesignated by the version information, and providing a service to amoving object based on the update block that reflects the update data.